Euro 2012 Results: Underdogs Who Failed to Seal the Deal

The world loves underdog stories, but the last few days of the Euro Cup has failed to produce any.

Sure, the classic tournament gave us an awesome Greek story, and to a lesser extent Czech Republic gave us a story back on Saturday, but since then it's been everything as expected.

The Dutch certainly weren't supposed to flop like they did, but Portugal taking their place as runner up in the Group of Death certainly doesn't qualify as an underdog story. 

When it comes down to it the underdogs are losing, and while my Euro bracket appreciates that, as a fan who enjoys a Cinderella story, I do not. 

Let's take a look at the teams that have come close, but failed to seal the deal. 

Recent Results

Sunday, June 18

Croatia 0 - 1 Spain

Italy 2 - 0 Ireland

Sunday, June 17

Portugal 2 - 1 Netherlands

Denmark 1 - 2 Germany

Saturday, June 16

Greece 1 - 0 Russia

Czech Republic 1 - 0 Poland

Poland (Lost 1-0 to Czech Republic)

Even though you can never count out the hosts at an international tournament, the Poles, who are ranked No. 62 in the world by FIFA, were a huge underdog coming in.

Nonetheless, the scrappy Poland squad was able to pull out a draw with both Greece and Russia in its first two matches, meaning all they needed to do was beat Czech Republic to advance.

No go though, after the Czechs got a goal from Petr Jiracek in the 72nd minute and never looked back. 

The Poles had plenty of chances (16 shots, seven on goal), but just couldn't capitalize. 

Considering this close match with the Czechs, and a disappointing draw with Greece to start the tournament, the Poles will be left wondering, what if?

Denmark (Lost 2-1 to Germany)

The Danes failed to be the newest underdog story, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. 

Coming into the tournament, they were supposed to be the team that Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands would walk over in the Group of Death.

Not so fast.

Denmark upset the Dutch to start the tournament, but lost to Portugal and Germany and failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

Still, the Danes, led by Nicklas Bendtner, Michael Krohn-Dehli and Daniel Agger, gave the group's top two teams tons of problems. 

If it's any consolation, and it's probably not, Denmark will go down as the best team in this tournament to not advance to the quarters. 

Croatia (Lost 0-1 to Spain)

Much like Denmark, the Croatians got out to a good start in the tournament with a win over Ireland, but a draw versus Italy and a loss against Spain was their undoing. 

Croatia is ranked above Italy in the FIFA world rankings, but no one was expecting them to advance past the Italians or No. 1 Spain. 

And they didn't. 

Still, drawing with the Italians and holding Spain scoreless for 88 minutes is thoroughly impressive and a good sign for Croatia and their chances at the 2014 World Cup.

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